The present invention relates to conveyor ovens and, more particularly to, an conveyor oven having modular heating elements that may be easily replaced and independently controlled to modify the cooking characteristics of the conveyor oven.
Many restaurants use conveyor ovens to prepare food. Conveyor ovens typically cook or heat food by forced convection. A food service professional may place food such as a pizza or a dish of lasagna, for example, on the conveyor and the food is cooked or heated as it is conveyed through heated air within the oven.
Air within the oven may be heated by resistive electrical heating elements located within the oven. Often, the heating elements are located inside ductwork in the inner structure of the oven. A fan or blower may force air through the ductwork. The air is consequently heated to a desired cooking temperature as it flows over the heating elements.
Typical heating elements however, are difficult to repair or replace because they are located within ductwork inside the oven. Consequently, repairs and maintenance are time-consuming and expensive. A restaurant may lose additional money because a broken oven cannot cook meals for customers.
Another limitation of conventional ovens is the ability, to upgrade heating elements. If newer, more efficient heating elements are developed, owners of conventional ovens may be required to have their outdated oven rebuilt at considerable cost. In some cases, an oven may not have the potential for upgrades because of space limitations or incompatible circuitry. The outdated oven may require replacement for the owner to have the desired features.
Additionally, conventional ovens have only a single resistive heating element having one temperature control. Supplying this typical resistive heating element with electricity will heat oven air to one particular temperature. Some foods however, may require different temperatures to properly cook different regions of the food. Pizza, for example, may require a hotter temperature air to properly cook a crisp crust while the top of the pizza may require a cooler temperature air to avoid burning a cheese topping. An oven having only a single temperature is not capable of cooking foods according to the desires of some food service professionals. Although a rheostat may be used to control the degree to which the heating element heats the air, controlling the temperature of air within different zones of the oven is difficult or impossible using conventional ovens having only one heating element.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have an improved heating element that is not difficult to replace or repair. It would also be desirable to have an improved heating element that is not difficult or impossible to upgrade. Further, it would be desirable to have an improved heating element in a conveyor oven that does not have the heating and cooking limitations of conventional conveyor ovens.
The present invention is a modular heater for a conveyor oven that has a flange that is removably attachable to the conveyor oven. The flange has an interior surface and an exterior surface. A heating element is attached to the interior surface of the flange. At least one contact is attached to the exterior surface of the flange. The contact is electrically connected to the heating element.
In one embodiment of the invention, a conveyor oven has a housing. The housing has an upper end and a lower end. A base has a first end and a second end, the first end of the base is attached to the lower end of the housing. A top has a first end and a second end, the first end of the base is attached to the upper end of the housing. The top extends generally parallel and adjacent to the base. The volume between the base and the top generally defines an oven chamber. A blower distributes air to the oven chamber and a modular heater heats the air distributed in the oven chamber.
In another embodiment of the invention, a food preparation system has a conveyor oven that has a cooking chamber. A blower distributes air to the cooking chamber and a heating element module to heat the air distributed by the blower.